Fireworks
by Resting Deeply
Summary: To celebrate the 4th of July, Tyler throws a firework party on the roof of Caduceus and a particular doctor decides to make a move on his own personal happiness. [DerekxAngie]


Fireworks

**Hello! This is going to be a flashback fanfic for me! I haven't written a pure romance fanfiction in years so I hope this is a pleasant return!**

**I don't plan on continuing this further unless it's like TCGeek's Valentine's Day three part fanfiction.**

**Without further ado!**

Independence Day.

Everyone wants the day off on this day. A full day without work to focus on family gatherings, outdoor food service and ultimately, fireworks.

The city of Angeles Bay was like any other city at this time of year - everybody celebrates either at midnight of the 4th or in the late afternoon and evening. Bright flashes of colors decorate the sky and provide a beautiful show for anybody looking to view it. For some people, the popping is scenery enough.

Like every year, any festivities are executed at Caduceus whether everyone is on board or not. Christmas? You bet. Valentine's Day? Even more. Today was no exception. All the staff members who wanted the day off or who needed time off had already requested and got approved for the day. The only ones that were left in the building were the emergency staff as well as executive officials. Still, the parking lot dedicated to staff was a third full.

It was nearing the end of the day, roughly six thirty on the clock. For those working the night shift, they still had a few hours but for those covering everyone else; now was a delightful time. The sun was still up but only a few degrees above the horizon. Dark patches in the sky were already being eaten up by fireworks and even the extreme fireworks shooters took up arms in the lit-up portions of the Angeles Bay horizons.

"Here's hoping we don't get any firework victims this year." Tyler joked, hunched over the front counter of Caduceus. Being a slow day that was already being used as an inventory day for nurses and a round make-up day for the small amount of doctors on staff, there was a couple of hours to burn. Around the front desk was Tyler, Leslie, Angie, and Victor. All of which were enjoying the small beginning of the 4th of July. This was nothing.

"If you're dumb enough to hurt yourself shooting off fireworks…" Victor started, slamming a big gulp of coffee before putting his mug down on the edge of the counter. "...then you should do us all a favor and not reproduce."

"Damn!" Tyler responded, looking over to meet the eyes of everyone else who looked nearly as shocked as he was.

"Yeah, rough day, Dr. Niguel?" Leslie gave chase to the conversation, seeing Victor scoff.

It was no secret that Victor Niguel was the balancing force of all the good that Caduceus does. He often had a negative opinion about everything and if there was nothing; he made something. A negative innovator.

"I just don't understand how fireworks mark the independence of a country, frankly." Victor complained, looking over at Angie. "Am I right?"

Angie was mid swallow of her water bottle and quickly brought it down from her face with cautious eyes.

"I think they offer a beautiful show for anybody who--"

"Oh, BROTHER!" Victor barked as he shook his head dismissive, grabbing his coffee again and taking a big drink from it. At this rate, nobody was sure if the coffee was bringing him down or preventing him from massacring every personel in the building.

Tyler laughed out loud, not hiding it whatsoever even as Victor's eyes gazed over at him once the laughter continued. Being a negative person working elbow to elbow with a very uplifting spirit, it was no wonder why Victor often times came for his neck in passive conversation. Very rarely did the two get along, which was always one sided. The both of them went back and forth for several minutes while the two girls wandered off across the room to the closest windows to peer out at the setting sun.

"I really hope this years show is better than the last!" Leslie said, leaning against the glass as she could hear distant thuds from the sky coming through the glass. This was one of her top three holidays and it was merely for the firework shows.

Angie took another sip from her water and looked out into the setting sun, seeing a firework explode in the distance but not close enough to light up their area.

"Me too." Angie agreed. However, her focus wasn't one hundred percent on the outdoors. When Leslie looked over at her she saw that Angie was partially looking outside. There must have been another distraction in play here. Quickly, Leslie remembered that there were only four of them which meant someone was missing. It didn't take that much longer to realize who it was.

"Do you have plans to watch the show tonight?" Leslie asked suggestively, nudging Angie's right shoulder. A frown grew across her face as she didn't see Angie buy into it and instead give a perfect answer.

"Hm." Angie pondered for a moment. "Besides maybe visit my father? Not that I know of."

Leslie internally facepalmed and instead moved around to the other side of her blonde friend and cleared her throat.

"Does Dr. Stiles have any plans, Angie?"

Instantly getting the mark that Leslie was trying to hit, Angie rolled her eyes and started walking away with the reply of, "Goodbye Leslie," being her main dismissal. The humor was far from over as she went to turn a corner and nearly ran face to face into someone coming her direction. Leslie saw Angie nearly collide with something and then her cheeks turn a slight red followed by profuse apologizing and awkward laughter. To her amazement, Derek himself bounded the corner while Angie went the opposite direction. He must have been who she plowed into and once Leslie put two and two together, everyone laughed.

"Did I miss something?" Derek said, looking from eye to eye. Laughing was a good thing but considering he had just walked out into the mess of hospital staff he wasn't quite sure there had been enough time to make someone laugh.

"Barely." Tyler said in between laughs which made Leslie laugh even more. Victor, however, was watching to see if Angie had actually ran off which, she did.

"Hey, Dr. Stiles!" Leslie welcomed the brown hair doctor into the room with a cheer. After working with Tyler for years which tied into working near Derek, she found that he was a good person to confide in with all matters outside of romantic interests. It always seemed like he was struggling with his own but never attempting to come to grips with it.

Everybody knew this already.

It was often a gag every time that Angie and Derek would bicker, Victor would either tell them to "get a room" or to promptly, "shut the fuck up." Yes, he was a delightful one. To all the Caduceus staff members it seemed like such an obvious path the two were going down. The months and months spent in the same room on trips out of country or just the hours cranking business out shoulder to shoulder. In all seriousness, everyone knew what tension lies there except for the both of them.

"Hello, Leslie." Derek responded, giving a small wave back as he approached his blonde best friend. "What are you laughing at?"

Tyler began controlling his laughter by taking in deep breaths and adjusting his point of view - staring at the source of what happened was doing no good for his efforts.

"Ah! You and Angie almost cracked skulls there." Tyler bursted out laughing once again, Leslie giving chase and chuckling as well. Victor was on his phone apparently oblivious to whatever shenanigans his coworkers were putting together. "Would have been a shame if someone had to reconstruct your guys's skulls!"

"Come on! We didn't actually run into each other…" Derek stammered out, feeling embarrassed under the spotlight of everyone's attention. "Besides, I'm sure I could pull out on file how many times you've run into people."

"I'm sorry, Doctor Stiles!" Leslie gave out as she started wrapping up her laughter and strolled herself out of the room. There was work to be done and it was better to keep busy than to be twirling thumbs if something happened.

Derek patted Leslie on the back as she walked by, knowing that the laughter was real but she wasn't innovating any humor from the encounter. Tyler had the effect of making everyone laugh besides the obvious elephant in the room.

"It's so much funnier when you do it because you get embarrassed!" Tyler let out as Derek rolled his eyes and started walking away down the hallway bypassing the stairs. "Don't forget! Fireworks at ten!"

Victor grunted. "Thank god I'm leaving at nine." Was his only response as he clacked away down to his laboratory leaving Tyler all alone in the lobby besides the occasional in and out staff member.

Being the joker of the hospital meant two things; the most serious people hated him but he got all of his enjoyment out even if he was the only one to feel it.

[Nurse's Station]

Angie had just finished running a new nurse through some of the procedures that follow a discharge of a patient. The paperwork, where to take it, and how to clean up the room before the next patient gets admitted. The most important part about what she drilled into the young ladies brain was that it should always be done as if there were a dozen of patients waiting for this bed. It eliminated the chance of you lagging behind.

Once they were done and the young lady went back to her station, Angie was left to check up on some of the patients and rooms. Panning up and down the hallway, Angie noticed that all the patients were either looking out the window or simply watching the T.V. in the corner of their rooms.

That's when she spotted Leslie cleaning up a room, number 28 to be exact. Tapping twice before opening up, Angie moved her way indoors and closed the door behind her.

Leslie turned around and smiled. "Angie!" Was her response. Her asian nurse was always so happy to see her friends and it was always heartwarming to say the least. "You look bored!"

Angie chuckled. "Not so much, I'm just avoiding my office right now."

Leslie gave a raised eyebrow knowing too well that she shared an office with Derek and would normally crowd the hell out of the room if he had duties in there. This was bizarre.

"Is it because you ran into Derek? Are you embarrassed?" She asked, receiving a high pitched, "Uh, yeah!"

To the blond nurse, being professional was a mass majority of her life. Slip ups and mistakes were often harped on more so by her than anybody else. She worked harder than ever to make sure no mistakes are made during surgery but even more so in social settings. So, for Angie to run head on into Derek, was near catastrophic.

Of course, Leslie never saw the pain from it until now.

"You always get so flustered about him! I would understand if you were new and he was still the greatest surgeon in the world, but you're not!" Leslie drilled into Angie who was still leaning against the door. "Why don't you ever admit it?"

Now it was Angie's turn to be thrown backwards as Leslie finished her speech and she was left to pick up the crumbs.

"E-Excuse me!? What are you trying to say here?" Angie barked, her cheeks glowing an ever-so shade of pink to red. If it was possible for someone to be more defensive, Leslie had no idea.

"Look at you right now! I've never seen you get this twisted up about anything, Angie. I've known you for years!"

Wanting to instantly bite her head off, Angie took a fraction of a second and paused realizing that her friend was correct; Angie was hardly this possessive and defensive of her own father.

"W-well…" Angie stammered, attempting to give a part of speech that didn't exist. She hadn't planned out anything to say and therefore just clammed up.

"It's okay to open up to someone, Angie." Leslie started. "You don't have to be so afraid to make yourself happy! In the end, nobody else is going to matter when you're alone and depressed."

Angie continued to sponge up the words that came from Leslie, realizing that Angie wasn't so much of pushing Derek away but neglecting to accept the obvious feelings that were there… however strong they were.

"I just…" Angie stammered once again. "I've never had to cater to someone. I've never had my happiness come from something that wasn't surgical."

"I can guarantee he has and would say the same thing about you." Leslie offered, continuing her cleaning task. The room was already pretty neat but likely needed to be wiped down for risk of infections and to keep a clean hygiene.

Angie knew she probably should leave, she had some more objectives to complete before it was time to watch the fireworks show at ten o'clock. With that, she shouted loudly, "Thank you, Leslie." Before swinging the door open and rushing out letting the door slowly close in its own.

[Derek's office]

Derek Stiles was very similar to superman, for obvious reasons. He lacked the super strength but he always knew what to do in high pressure situations. Improvising is what he called it, and more often than not he didn't have to. However, when the scenario called for it, he knew how and was confident in his own capabilities.

What made him most like Superman, however, was his kryptonite.

Doing post-OP documents for each patient after they were discharged meant at least an hour in front of the computer screen. Over the years he has picked up his speed but really, it was still a dreadful process for anybody who enjoyed moving around a lot.

In his office was Tyler, snacking on some food from the cafeteria in Angie's seat. On his plate was an apple, a small serving salad, and some pasta. The blonde doctor was shoveling food into his mouth one bite after another; his crunching reaching the sound of Derek's ears across the small room.

"Are you excited for the fireworks show?" Tyler asked. "I bought all of the fireworks this year, even a very special surprise rocket that coated me two hundred dollars."

Derek set the pen he was fidgeting with down and poked his head around the monitor to look at Tyler. Spending that much money on a rocket seemed so excessive but for someone with an explosive personality, this wasn't too big.

"Jeez." Derek responded with. "Yeah, I'm pretty amped about it. Especially since this year Dr. Kasal is letting us on the roof for an hour."

"Right? I'm excited to not have to look through a window to see the explosions of hundreds of excited americans!" Tyler chirped, tossing his food plate into the garbage can.

"Hey, you might want to empty that out before Angie comes back, she hates it when you leave your junk at her spot." Derek said before looking back at his computer screen. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, one so random that Derek had to look to see if Tyler was still in the area which he was.

"You know, we need to talk about her."

"Do we? I was kind of hoping we didn't today." Derek responded. "Don't make things awkward or I'll kill you."

"I'm not!" Tyler defended himself, waving his two hands slowly. "I just want to know what's up with that."

Once again; Derek wished he hadn't said one thing that drove him down the hole of this conversation. It seemed like once the topic of Angie started there was no going back without just leaving outright. However, Derek had something to do and couldn't just abandon his post. Shame.

"Dude, there is nothing there. We are nothing but…" Derek paused for a second and Tyler's eyebrows went up like a firework. "Professionals! We work together, Tyler."

"Leslie and I work together, and you know we've been dating for months." Tyler kicked back. Like Derek had forgotten, often being with all three of them after work he was reminded of their romance by the swoons and annoying kiss sounds from the backseat of his car. It was like they were in high school outside of Caduceus but perfectly mature in the hospital. Well, not perfectly.

"That's different, man." Derek said, not taking his eyes off of his screen. "The difference here is that Angie is like a brick wall and I'm a…" He stammered again which earned a laugh from Tyler.

"Don't let her hear that you called her a brick wall!" He said between laughs.

"Shut up!" Derek barked. "You know what I mean! She doesn't let emotions take over like I do."

Tyler stopped laughing and got up from his seat and strolled over to the edge of Derek's desk. It took him a couple of seconds before looking away from his screen to look up at Tyler.

"Look man, you and Angie have real chemistry. There is a bond there that I wish I had with Leslie. The trust you both share and the mutual responsibilities you carry out together just… blows me away!" He said with a small pause in between. "One day, man, there's going to be a time when you wish you had done more, said more, thought less."

Derek went wide eyed. It was impossible to ignore the feelings he had for his assistant even when he was around her. However, maybe that was the wrong thing to do. Working with GUILT meant that he had first hand experience with people on the verge of death and even more experience pulling them back from such an oblivion. If something had happened and there was no more opportunity to give his feelings to Angie, how could he live with himself?

"I never knew you were a therapist, Tyler." Derek joked to which Tyler took a ferocious bite from his apple and grinned.

"It was you who taught me that doctors have to repair more than just physical wounds. I know you're damaged, man. Angie won't do anything to hurt you and I know for a fact that you love her enough to do the same."

There was a dramatic pause between the two; Derek didn't continue his computer work and Tyler just kept chewing. Finally annoyed with the food noise, Derek leaned back and sighed.

"I got a lot to think about… But thank you, brother." Derek said as he shook the hand of Tyler who said nothing in response besides a muffled, 'good luck' in between chews.

If he was going to play his cards, he wanted to play them soon. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed and he mentally kicked himself for forgetting that as a doctor.

[Caduceus Roof]

Just a few minutes had passed since it hit ten o'clock. Most of the Caduceus staff were on the rooftop viewing the different fireworks coming from different areas. Many came from the city limits where light pollution was a little less and the biggest explosions came from the inner city. Of course, Tyler had plans on changing that.

"Everybody here?" Tyler yelled out. Just about everyone agreed, the dozens of people that were actually up top. Once he got the go ahead, he lit a match and plastered it to the fuse of a firework.

"Oh, boy." Angie muttered. "I can see this going wrong."

Derek, who was standing at her side leaned against the edge guard of the roof chuckled quietly. "Would be a shame if one of those went off prematurely up here. Not like we would have anywhere to run."

Angie laughed in response and nudged Derek with her elbow.

"Alright! 3...2...1!" Tyler yelled out as the fuse ended up lighting the fireworks underneath. With a loud hissing sound, the rocket went up several hundred feet. There was a brief moment of silence before it exploded and Derek's eyes as well as Angie's were lit up in dozens of different colors. The group of people cheered despite Derek and Angie who were standing several feet away from the small crowd.

They were enjoying their own time just like they always did. The seconds went by quickly as several other rockets were shot off and exploded in the sky.

"It's so beautiful…" Angie said gently, her blonde hair wrapping around her and waving in the small breeze sifting through the rooftops. Derek looked over at Angie and let a smile creep across his lips. Angie hadn't looked away from the sky and was oblivious to the man peering at her now.

He couldn't deny that she looked beautiful in this setting. Her blue blouse and skirt waving in the breeze and her blonde hair seemingly dancing around her figure. The emerald green eyes being blown away as the fireworks went off. Derek had no idea how long he had been staring at the nurse in front of him but at some point he was met with,

"Dr. Stiles?"

"Shit." Was his internal scolding himself as his brain fluttered rapidly to manifest some sort of response to the lovely nurse in front of him.

"Y-Yeah? Sorry, what?" Derek stammered, putting a hand behind his head. "Those fireworks are beautiful aren't they?"

Angie covered her mouth with the back of her hand and giggled. A socially awkward and nervous Derek was very easy to create. Although, she had no idea what he was looking at.

"Yes, but… are you alright?" Angie asked. Derek pretended that he didn't hear a word from her and she knew that he heard her. "Hey! Don't ignore me."

Derek chuckled and looked down at her. "I'm sorry, I just love these fireworks."

Angie shook her head. There was something deeper here that she wasn't getting from him.

"These fireworks remind me of all the trips we've gone on together." Angie started. "We never see fireworks anymore, but I definitely value the time we spend together."

Derek looked back to her with confusion. It just seemed so out of nowhere as far as Angie is. There were very few times in their time together when Angie would just shotgun whatever was on her mind unless she was furious or really upset.

Still, he listened closely.

"These celebrations we all hold together remind me that we are all family… I'm learning what a family is after my father disappeared all those years ago." She said, looking down to the ground almost as if asking for reassurance.

"Hey." Derek said as he nudged her once more. "You have all of us. Some of us had similar beginnings and can understand how you feel. I do. I've always been able to sympathize with your thoughts and pain. Nobody knows you like I do, Angie." Now he was feeling the echoes of nervousness when she looked up at him, a stray tear in her left eye.

It was true. The two went everywhere together more than most relationships allowed. Their friendship had evolved to a bond and deep down they knew that was the fate of everything.

"I guess tomorrow is never guaranteed." Angie started. "And if I might not get tomorrow then maybe I should be making the most of my today."

Derek was speechless. Feeling those exact thoughts just hours before he almost wondered if Tyler was to blame for this and even shot him a glance but the goofball wasn't paying attention and instead was giving Sidney the marches to keep shooting off rockets while he and Leslie got to watch.

"... I only have two hours left of today." Angie continued once more. "I've spent so many days lying to myself, telling myself things just to make myself feel better. But… I guess deep down I was just hiding the part of me that has changed over the past three years."

Derek smiled. The vulnerability between the two of them was a valuable connection that sparked very rarely unless the situation called for it. But, she was getting at a bigger picture here and wouldn't turn her body away from his while talking. His heart started racing out of anticipation.

"I want to be more than your assistant, Dr. Stiles."

The bomb was dropped as Derek made the movement to talk but nothing came out. He felt his bones shaking and his brain practically crashed like a computer. The eyes of his wandered from Angie to the floor before back up to hers but has never left his face. What was there to say? There was a lot, but how?

"Angie…" Derek started before stepping a couple of steps closer, the cheeks of the both of them lit up. "You're right."

Angie paused and looked as if she was disappointed. Pouring her heart out only got those three words?

Like usual though, Derek had much more.

"I realized today that tomorrow isn't always promised and that my skills and technique are often overlooked by myself. Sure, I'm a world famous surgeon but I never gave you the credibility you deserve. Maybe it was fate, but the fireworks seemed to be the best place to tell you." He cleared his throat and gave her a reassuring smile. "People always tell me to make sure the job you're working is your passion so that you never work a day of your life. But, those people have never been a surgeon. The stress, fear, and uncertainty is similar to other places but having that person that keeps you on your feet I've learned is the most valuable thing. Having you."

Derek stopped once again and saw Angie start smiling as well.

"Derek…" Angie offered as he took in another breath to continue what he had to say.

"I've treasured being only the doctor you support in the O.R. for years. Having someone who wasn't going to run away when things got tough. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't started at Hope Hospital and assisted me with that one operation that got us here on the roof. So yes, I want to be more than your doctor, Angie."

There was a large gap in words as Derek opened his arms slightly and Angie plunged herself into his chest. The breeze fluttered both of their hairs and he wrapped his arms around her back gently but tight; keeping her secure as if she was the most valuable person in his life. Which she was.

The hug lasted nearly a minute with neither of the two saying a word until they separated. Derek started pulling away but found two hands intertwined behind his neck. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw curious green eyes peering into his brown followed by a wide smile from her. Like a magnet, it pulled one from him as well.

Behind them, Sidney yelled out something half comprehensive.

"...the big rocket!" Was all they heard as they turned over to look. Leslie and Tyler caught a glimpse of the two in very close proximity to each other, arms wrapped around each other. In a loud countdown the firework was lit and on three, it launched into the sky.

Derek and Angie turned to face each other one last time seconds after it went up. Their faces fell closer to each other approaching the peak of their relationship up until now. One last look of reassurance from Derek was met with closing eyes from Angie as he followed suit. Finally, the kiss.

The very epitome of what Derek had been dreaming of since he met the girl of his dreams and apparently, he wasn't the only one.

The firework exploded brightly and everyone cheered, Tyler and Leslie saluting and cheering on Derek and Angie as they shared a long kiss, Angie on her tiptoes with arms wrapped around the upper half of her doctor.

"Hooray!" Everyone shouted followed by claps and cheers. Still, Derek and Angie kept their kiss locked.

Because the the after wasn't guaranteed.

And they have nothing but time.

[Fin]

Woo! Finally cranked another fluff fanfiction of Derek Angie. You know, my two favorites. I hope you enjoyed my return to my roots and I look forward to seeing you next time!


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